


every word you say

by jessalae



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Always-A-Girl Tony, Community: insmallpackages, Dark, Gen, Genderswap, Post-Thor: The Dark World
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-06
Updated: 2014-01-06
Packaged: 2018-01-07 19:16:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1123399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessalae/pseuds/jessalae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His scrying peels back the exoskeleton, revealing Antonia Stark in her natural state, and Loki is surprised to discover that this unarmored woman is quite as fierce as the iron version of herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	every word you say

**Author's Note:**

> Written for insmallpackages for the following prompt: "The Avengers/MCU: Antonia Stark takes no prisoners and Loki finds that attractive in a mate." I hope you enjoy, anonymous wisher! Thanks for such a fun fic idea!

It begins via the simple necessity of keeping an eye on Thor. Even with his troublesome brother a world away, and thoroughly beguiled by the fiction Loki fed him, but Loki would be a fool to leave him entirely unobserved. His scrying bowl rests in a secret chamber behind a protective veil of spells, the smooth surface of its waters reflecting flashes of Thor’s life: battles, discussions, daily tasks, and a disturbing amount of lovemaking. After the third time that Loki walks into his lair and is greeted by the unpleasant sight of his brother’s overmuscled buttocks, he decides it may be necessary to adjust the scrying spell. 

He broadens its scope, giving himself a wider view, and — hopefully — eliminating some of the more detailed glimpses into his brother’s life on Earth. That’s when he begins to notice her.

He has encountered her before, obviously, having come face to face with her during his conquest of Earth. At that time, however, he saw her as simply another obstacle in his path, no more worthy of notice than any of Earth’s other pathetic heroes. A nagging insect, encased in a shiny red and gold exoskeleton, making a particularly irritating whining noise in his ear. The Iron Lady had been worthy of his attention only for as long as it took to brush her aside. 

His scrying peels back the exoskeleton, revealing Antonia Stark in her natural state, and Loki is surprised to discover that this unarmored woman is quite as fierce as the iron version of herself, and twice as compelling. She crosses paths with Thor quite often, sitting with him in councils and seeking his advice on the development of new weapons. Loki catches sight of her making plans to replace the building destroyed in the battle, sketching out a structure more ambitious and complex than the original one. A monument to an ego renewed, it would seem. On several occasions, he sees her arguing with men who seem to be Earth’s political and military leaders, aging titans studded with medals and ornamental frills. She wears a simple dress with no adornment, and emerges victorious from each confrontation, leaving her opponents looking like little boys about to weep for their mothers. She and her red-haired consort sweep through life like a breeze, taking what they want and leaving no trace of their passage, and when night falls they return to their fortress and make love with furious passion.

Loki finds he can’t look away.

He conjures a second scrying bowl, laying on it similar spells to the bowl keeping track of Thor, but tuned to the Lady Stark’s armor, her tower, her lover, and her own image. The bowls sit side-by-side behind their protective curtain of concealing enchantments, two windows into an Earth briefly at peace. Loki studies them daily, as his schemes grow and blossom and draw ever nearer to the day of their execution. One, the bowl with Thor, gives him confidence that his plans will not be interrupted, as his ever-credulous brother shows not the least sign of suspicion.

The other, with the Lady Stark, assures him that Earth will have something left that’s worth conquering when his day finally comes.


End file.
